Chuuk State Census Report - pacificweb.org

Chapter 1. Introduction2000 FSM Census of Chuuk StateThe Office of the High Commissioner carried out the first population census during the American period in 1958, andthe Peace Corps Volunteers carried out the second census in 1967. This was the first to be done through enumerationof the entire resident population using well tested methods including maps and housing lists (Gorenflo & Levin, 1992).Since the 1967 Census, periodic though somewhat irregular censuses have been conducted. The United States, underActs of Congress, which provided for the inclusion of outlying areas of U.S. sovereignty or jurisdiction, included theTTPI in its 1970 Census of population while the TTPI Administration carried out the 1980 Census. Because ofdissatisfaction with the 1970 Census, another census was commissioned under a Law enacted by the Congress ofMicronesia and carried out with the assistance of the South Pacific Commission. The census conducted in 1973 out ofthe High Commissioner's Office, is generally considered the best census compared to previous ones conducted duringthe American period.Of the 25,107 persons enumerated in Chuuk in 1967, 18,141(72 percent) lived on the lagoon islands, 4,547 (18 percent)lived in the Mortlocks, and 2,419 (10 percent) lived in Oksoritod (Table 1.10). About 45 percent were less than 15years old.Table 1.10. Age by Region, Chuuk: 1967Age groupRegion Number Total 0-14 years 15-24 years 25-59 years 60 years or moreTotal 25,107 100.0 45.4 17.0 27.9 5.6Northern Namoneas 5,913 100.0 42.9 17.9 28.6 4.5Southern Namoneas 6,062 100.0 47.4 16.9 27.3 6.0Faichuk 6,166 100.0 45.9 16.8 27.0 5.5Mortlocks 4,547 100.0 45.2 17.9 27.6 6.7Oksoritod 2,419 100.0 46.0 13.8 30.5 5.4Source: School of Public Health, University of Hawaii, ms.; 2000 FSM Census.Note: "Not Stated" age cases (consisting of 4 percent) were included in the total but not in the age groups..More than half of the population of Oksoritod in 1973 was less than 15 years old, while slightly less than half of thepopulations of Southern Namoneas, Faichuk, and the Mortlocks were also in this age group (Table 1.14). Thepopulation in Northern Namoneas looked different, with less than 4 in 10 being less than 15, but about 1 in 4 beingbetween 15 and 24, considerably greater than the proportions for the other regions. The percentage 25 to 59 was alsolarger than the other regions, but the percentage 60 years and over was less, indicating that older people either remainedin the outlying areas, or returned to them after working in what was then the "District Center."Table 1.11. Population of Chuuk by Age and Region: 1973Age groupRegion Number Total 0-14 years 15-24 years 25-59 years 60 years or moreTotal 31,596 100.0 46.4 19.4 27.5 6.2Northern Namoneas 9,568 100.0 39.5 25.8 29.2 5.0Southern Namoneas 7,401 100.0 49.5 16.8 26.6 6.2Faichuk 7,277 100.0 49.0 17.5 26.3 6.8Mortlocks 4,685 100.0 48.8 16.0 27.5 7.6Oksoritod 2,665 100.0 51.0 15.3 27.5 6.0Source: Office of Census Coordinator, TTPI 1975.Note: Unknowns affect percentages.By 1973, the great migration to Weno had started. As noted earlier, the population of Chuuk jumped by more than6,000 between 1967 and 1973. The 1973 Census contained a question on home area besides the question on usualresidence (people were also classified by place of enumeration). Home area in 1973 was usually the voting residence.The total for home area was slightly different from usual residence because persons in other FSM states and Palau andthe Marshalls could claim Chuuk as home area.Of the 31,218 persons in 1973 claiming Chuuk as home area, about 5 in 6 claimed the same municipality for both homearea and usual residence (Table 1.12). However, less than 3 of every 5 persons in Northern Namoneas claimed thesame municipality for both usual residence and home area, while about 2 in 5 claimed some other area as their homearea. No other region in Chuuk in 1973 had these proportions -- about 1 in 12 of those in the Mortlocks and Oksoritodclaimed other places as home area, and the percentages in Southern Namoneas and Faichuk were even lower. Almostno one in Chuuk in 1973 claimed home areas outside of Chuuk.12 Chuuk Branch Statistics Office, Division of Statistics, FSM Department of Economic Affairs